Halloween is such a fun time of year: It means fun eats and treats, horror movies, zombies, monsters and parties. It also means you get to dress up as who ever you want. This year I decided to make my own costume (bear with me… it was the first time I ever used a sewing machine. Well, not ever, but certainly the first time in the last 10 years). My boyfriend and I are huge into gaming, but aside from a few Resident Evil characters, I really couldn’t say I had a favourite female video game character from the last year. So I racked my brain for days trying to figure out what I wanted to be, and after spending way too much time on my phone playing Minion Rush, I settled on a pair of Minions from Despicable Me. How could I not? I love the movie and everything cute, so naturally a Minion fit the bill. Unfortunately no one in town could sell me a costume and it was way too late to order online, hence the reason for my sudden ambition over making my costume this year… How hard could it be, really? So I went to the store and bough all my supplies, tracked down a sewing machine, and got to work.
I love love love minions. These bright yellow cylindrical little creatures are just fantastic. I’m not going to lie… last week Ken and I watched Despicable Me so that we could.. “get into character” in time for Halloween. That movie never disappoints me. I haven’t seen the second one yet though so no spoilers!
So onto my costume. First I made the Minion goggles and beanie hat. I found some large glasses at a costume shop, popped out the lenses and then painted the frames black with acrylic paint. I traced out two large circles of cardboard, cut out smaller circles in the middle, and then painted them silver. Once dry, I glued the silver circles onto the painted black frames using a glue gun. Next, I made the beanie hat (I used this tutorial to help with the “sewing” part of it).
What you’ll need:
- bright yellow fleece material
- black pipe cleaner
- a needle and thread or sewing machine
- scissors
- measuring tape
- beanie hat pattern (which can be found here) *I kind of eyeballed it since my printer was out of ink and it turned out fine.
- Follow the tutorial up until the four domed edges are sewn together. You can absolutely do this without a sewing machine (I did, since I hadn’t figured out how to use mine at this point), it just takes a little longer.
- Create the inside band of the hat by folding up the bottom section of the hat. I glued it in place using fabric glue as I did not want a seam here.
- Cut 2 to 3 pipe cleaners into quarters. Poke small holes at the top of the hat using sharp scissors and then thread the bottom of the pipe cleaners into the holes. Glue them in place with the help of a glue gun.
I also decided to make our overalls, which was the most challenging part of the costume. Some advice: if you ever see overalls, buy them, because when you need them, you will not be able to find them, anywhere. For my jumper dress I cut out two large rectangles of dark blue fabric. I made sure to use my measurements (waits, bust and hips) as a guideline, so it would make more of a coke bottle shape and less of a box shape. I sewed both pieces of fabric together using a sewing machine I had to get a quick lesson from a co-worker on how to operate the thing – thanks Mel!). For the straps i cut out long pieced of fabric that we about 2 inches wide, folder them in half, and then sewed the edged together. I then turned them inside out (with a little difficulty). I made sure they were the length that I wanted, and then sewed them in place. I glues on two large buttons at the base of the straps on the front side of the dress. I then traced out a Gru logo in felt and hot glue gunned it to the front of the dress.
For my boyfriend’s overalls, I used a pair of his snow pants as a pattern. I first folded the material in half. Then, I folded the snow pants in half, and traced along the pants with a white tailor’s pencil, giving about an inch and a half of extra room around the pants. I did this twice and then cut out the pattern. I sewed the “middle” seam together first, and ended up with two pieces of pant-shaped fabric. I then laid the pieces on top of each other and sewed together the edge seams. Once i was done perfecting the seams i finished with, surprisingly enough, what resembled a pair of overalls without straps.
I added the straps as I did with the dress, and then glued on a Gru logo to the front of the overalls. Ken and I both purchased some yellow knock off morph suits so that we could be yellow just like minions. I cut off the heads and hands so that I could get the look I wanted (and the feet too since we were both a little tall for the suits). You can fold in the cut edges and secure with fabric glue if you’d like.
The costumes were an absolute hit! I thought we were being pretty original with these costumes but apparently the entire world had the same idea – there was an absolute minion takeover this Halloween and I can’t wait to see more costume pictures!
Now onto some fun Halloween treats… This will be a two part post, and I will be sharing one recipe today and the other a little closer to Halloween. Ken and I will be visiting a few Haunted Houses on the 31st. I love being scared. I love scary movies and creepy houses and scary costumes. I love it all. There are a few places around town that are supposed to be very well done and I’m hopping that I’m am scared silly when I come out of there. If not I know there will be a good selection of horror movies on TV that will hopefully give me a scare before bed.
One candy that always comes to mind when I think of Halloween is candy corn. This extremely sweet, bright orange, yellow and white candy is a favourite of mine. Stop reading now if you are looking for a healthy treat because this one is full of sugary goodness.
Some cookie facts: These cookies are buttery and soft, and I used both cornstarch and cream in the batter, making the cookies extra soft without being cakey. This cookie should not be cooked for more than 10 minutes. The candy corn should be on the interior of the cookies, not touching the baking sheet as the corn could melt or burn. I got this recipe from AverieCooks.com; this is the second recipe of hers I have tried and so far she is two for two.
Now I did have some teeny tiny issues making these cookies (all my own fault I assure you). The first was that I actually ran out of all purpose flour. I didn’t even think that was possible. On my way out to work yesterday morning I did a quick peek into my pantry and saw a huge bag of what I thought to be all purpose flour, but it turned out to be bread flour. Not a huge deal… I used it anyway and the cookies turned out fine. The only thing I found was that they didn’t quite “spread” when they were baking. Whatever form they took when they were sitting in the fridge is the shape they stayed. My other issue was that I a kind of missed the Halloween Candy Corn train. Apparently it went by weeks again and everyone who wanted candy corn stocked up before I could get my hands on any. I checked three stores and no luck, so I settled on berry flavoured candy corn. It’s not quote the same (which is what I frantically explained to the cashier at the Bulk barn) but unfortunately I was SOL. Next year I think I’ll pick it up much earlier.
Candy Corn White Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes approximately 20 medium sized cookies. cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for one week, or in the freezer for up to four months.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cream or half-and-half
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 1/2 cups candy corn
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Baking Directions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugars, egg and vanilla extract. Beat on medium-high for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the cream, flour, corn starch, baking soda and salt. Mix until just combined (approx. 1 minute), do not over mix.
- Fold in the candy corn and white chocolate chips.
- Place 20 large heaping 2-tablespoon mounds of the batter onto a large plate or baking sheet. Flatten them slightly, cover with plastic wrap, and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or up to five days before baking. (**Note from author: do no bake with warm dough as the cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.)
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly spray with cooking spray. Place the cookie mounds on a baking sheet, spacing each mound at least 2 inches apart, and bake for 9 minutes or until edges are set and tops are just beginning to set.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
The purple candy corn does not take away from the taste, at all. It’s just a different taste. This cookie still as Halloween written all over it. And it is so soft and gooey – no crunch just the way I like it. I hope you enjoy the recipe! Happy Baking.
The Jill of all Trades 